Essay: “The problem with pointing blame”
by Gecco
Summary: An essay about throwing 'blame' around when it comes to Thranduil and the Dwarves of 'The Hobbit.


Author notes: _Hello all! Sorry, no fic yet, just an essay I did awhile back. I am still working on the new conclusion to "Masks" and am working on a few other fics. I'm also busy with art commissions._

_I'm only posting this and the other essay here so I can clear up some room on my computer. Sorry for being gone for so long, Real Life decided to take a huge bite out of my ass lately and my computer had a bad crash. I'm having to retype two fics I was almost done with . I hate to pop in and dash away again into the shadows, but I only have time to post this, then I'm out the door again. _

"The problem with pointing blame"

Or

"The Thranduil fan who had enough"

I'm sure anyone that is reading this is quite familiar with LOTR and the other books written by J.R.R. Tolkien, like "The Hobbit" and the "Silmarillian,". I'm also fairly certain that most know of the incident of the Dwarves of Thorin's company being imprisoned in Mirkwood Thranduil, during the Quest for Erebor, in "The Hobbit".

Over the years I've read many interesting and insightful essays and fics about the Mirkwood Elves and King Thranduil. I freely admit that I to am a devout and staunch Thranduil supporter/fan and think that poor Thranduil gets unfairly treated and wrongly portrayed in far too many stories. Yet, I've noticed something that many of my fellow Thranduil-fans do when they write fics or do essays that defend the King of Mirkwoood that I find extremely unfair.

No, I have absolutely no problem with someone defending Thranduil, in fact I wish more would do it. But! It's how they go about it that I find wrong. There is a terrible double-standard that many Authors and fans seem to have, they get mad when someone else unfairly blames or bashes one character or race that they like, yet they see nothing wrong with turning that same blame and or bigotry on another Middle-earth species. It's not funny when someone's favorite Elf is belittled, bashed and or called/described in racial slurs. Yet it's Ok if another character is bashed and described in insulting racial-stereo-types. Hence why I decided to write this essay.

I find it odd why so many people feel as if they must take a side when it comes to the imprisonment of the Dwarves in Mirkwood in "The Hobbit". Loudly pointing fingers at either side saying: "See it was their fault! It's the Dwarves fault for intruding in the Elves' wood and being rude to King Thranduil!" or "It's Thranduil's fault cause he's just mean and greedy for locking the Dwarves up!"

I tell you all now... I'M COMPLETLY TIRED OF IT! Why can't people look at this from an unbiased viewpoint? I like both Dwarves and Elves, I don't have to take either sides, even if I did like one species over the other. I have read and re-read this part of "The Hobbit" more times then I can count and I still don't come away with any greater dislike or like of either side of this argument.

Here's something new: THEY ARE BOTH WRONG and THERE BOTH RIGHT! The Elves overreacted and were overly suspicious. While the Dwarves where too stubborn and should have just explained what they where really doing. They are both at fault, we as readers should be able to look at this from an outside standpoint and not heap blame solely on either side.

Of course the Elves are going to see themselves as the wronged-party and their actions as justified, the same goes for the Dwarves and of course when your doing a story from either viewpoint you have to keep that in mind. But we as readers should not be looking at this and other incidents in Tolkien's books with such a narrowed and colored lens.

Bigotry is an ugly thing and should be treated as such, be it from Elves or Dwarves, or any other species for that matter! Yet compared to many Hobbit-lovers, Men-fans, it seems that many more Elf-fans (not all of course) think nothing of the blatant ignorance and bigotry the Elves show to other races. They almost seem to think that because they like a certain character, they should share that characters views, even if those views are unfair and negative.

Now, I adore Thranduil, he's one of my all time fav Elves, right under Celebrimbor. I'm also a staunch Thranduil-defender and like many others I utterly bristle when I read a story or essay where  
he's portrayed like some greedy tyrant or alcoholic, child-abusing, monster. But I also bristle when people throw around false fandom hog-wash about Dwarves, which I have found is far more prevalent then even Thranduil-bashing fics.

Tolkien only says that the Elves thought the Dwarves unlovely. That's right, Tolkien didn't say Dwarves are unlovely, he said Elves _thought_ the Dwarves unlovely. Clearly this is Elven-bigotry, yet so many writers throw these things around like it was total Tolkien canon, wrong! This is what many Elves  
think, not what is fact. Tolkien himself when describing the Dwarves never says anything about them being unlovely, ugly or horribly hairy, ect.

The so called "ugly fat Dwarf" (with the notable exception of Bombur, who was clearly said to be fat) for the most part doesn't seem to exist and is probably a product of the Elves' superiority complex, ignorance and propaganda. Which most of the "Elf-struck" LOTR fandom have faithfully swallowed hook-line-and-sinker. I have read so many fics where Dwarves are always described with words like squat, pudgy, stubby, homely, ignorant, laud, ext.

Yet reading the books there is a very clear contradiction of these characteristics that many authors use to describe Dwarves like Gimli. After all was it not Aule, the greatest Smith of the Valar that created the Dwarves? Why would the greatest artisan of the Valar, famed for making such wondrous and beautiful works like The Great Lamps, make his children ugly? And lets not even get started on how the Dwarves are used by many authors and much of the LOTR fandom as scapegoats, when they are not being bashed or vilified. Perhaps it has to do with the recent movies and Peter Jackson's complete butchering of poor Gimli's character into nothing but insulting comic-relief, but for authors that have supposedly read the books there really is no excuse.

I also find it interesting that so many authors throw the term "Naugrim" around. The problem with this is that Naugrim means "_Stunted Ones_", it's an insulting racial slur used by the Elves. When their talking to each other or when their being purposefully insulting and ignorant, I'm sure they use this term freely. However, if they where trying to be respectful they would call them "Gonnhirrim", which means '_Masters of Stone' or _simply address the Dwarves as "Dwarves" or "Khazad", which is the Dwarves' name for their own people. Calling a Dwarf a "Naugrim" to his face is like calling someone of Hispanic decent a "Wet-back" or someone who is African-American a "Nigger".

In other words people if Legolas was to turn to Gimli and say "So Gimli, what does a naugrim like yourself do on a Friday night?", there's a good chance that Gimli would; A.) Promptly get angry and begin to curse Legolas out. Or B.) Gimli would turn and punch him in the face.

Ok, back to the main topic! One of the things I've noticed that many of my fellow Thranduil-fans use when they are defending the Mirkwood King, that really bugs me, is that they throw all the blame on the Dwarves. Many using the argument that the Dwarves where trespassing in "The Hobbit". This is true.

The problem with this however is that the Dwarves by that time were already lost! They didn't know they were trespassing in anyone's kingdom, the Wood-elves didn't exactly put up any signs. laughs There were no big signs reading "**No Trespassing, Property of Thranduil!**" and "**Don't feed the Spiders**" in big bold red letters at the entrance to Mirkwood. And while I'm at it, another excuse that I see  
often used is that the Dwarves wandered off the path when Gandalf and Beorn warned them not to.

Yes, they did wander off the Old Forest Road. The same Old Forest Road that the Elves had allowed to deteriorate and become overgrown in a thick forest so dark at times you couldn't see your own hand in front of your face. Not to mention the whole thing about Bilbo and the Dwarves starving and wandering off the path when they where attracted by the Elves' lights in the woods.

Gee, I can't understand how they could have accidentally have wandered off the path? (yes, that was sarcasm)

Now for the biggest excuse I always see used when people decide to throw the blame on the Dwarves; First Thorin, then later Balin and the rest of the Dwarves are rude and wont answer Thranduil's questions when they are brought before his throne.

Yes, I too am a firm believer that Thorin is a self-important snob and pompous wind-bag, but he's not evil and was not suffering from the gold-sickness yet. Yes, he's stubborn and should have thought about his words with more care. Yet look at it from his viewpoint.

Earlier, he had just stepped out to introduce himself- when the Elves knocked him out with a spell before he could say anything! Thorin definitely has issues, but he is a noble being and his intentions are true. Is his cause not just? He's on a long-shot quest to take back his rightful home, having been in exile all these years since he watched the Dragon come and destroy, then steal his people's rightful home. Now he's on a quest to take it back, to better his exiled people and though he and the rest of the Dwarves might be in much decreased living, Thorin is still a King in his own right! Now here he is; he's just stepped into the clearing to parlay and introduce himself--and now he suddenly wakes up to find he has been unceremoniously dragged into the middle of an Elven court. His traveling companions no where in sight, all these strange Elves looking down their noses at him in suspicion, with a golden haired King demanding to know what he and his company where doing in his realm and accusing Thorin and his company of things they honestly did not do.

"_Why did you and your folk three times try to attack my people at their merrymaking?" _

With Thorin answering truthfully, _"We did not attack them! We came to beg, because we were starving_."

Which is sadly the truth, which must have stung for Thorin to admit that he and his company where so desperate for food, he was willing to swallow his pride and step forward (after two failed attempts by Bilbo) and beg for some food. Thorin of course does not tell Thranduil everything.

But would Thranduil have been any different if roles had been reversed and it was he and his people on a quest to take back their rightful home? I doubt he would use the same words as Thorin, but do you think Thranduil would tell what he was actually trying to do?

Now I do however have total sympathy for poor Balin and the rest of the Dwarves. Yes, he was rude. But don't you think he and the others have the right to be little cranky? Their horribly lost, their leader  
is missing (not knowing that Thorin has already been imprisoned), their starving, their tired, their all suffering from spider venom (which is probably deadly to most beings), their sore and still recovering from being tightly wrapped and hung up in spider webbing. They barely escape thanks to Bilbo, then their caught by a bunch of armed Elves that pop out of nowhere with weapons drawn, then their blind-folded, their hands bound, then marched through the forest as prisoners and brought before an Elf King. Who's still pissed off from his previous dealings with a stubborn Thorin.

Forgive me. Maybe I'm weird or something, but I think I'd be a little cranky too. If I'm starving and just narrowly survived being almost eaten alive by giant talking spiders, being nice to a seeming haughty Elf King sitting regally on his throne, mad cause I crashed his party in the woods, is going to be low on my priorities.

If people simply must point a finger of blame at anyone, why not point it at Gandalf? He was helping the Dwarves was he not? He knew all about the Elves in Mirkwood. Why didn't he warn Thorin's Company about the Wood-elves and possibly pissing off Thranduil? Or send word to Thranduil warning him of a group of Dwarves passing through, maybe have the Dwarves carry a note addressed to the Elf King, explaining the situation just in case they got caught?

Though if you do blame him, don't do it too harshly! He probably had his mind and attention on the dealings with the White Council and the Necromancer at the time.

Now before anyone jumps up and points out that Thranduil has an excuse to act the way he did because of his and his father's probable ties with King Thingol and "the Sack of Doriath", don't. We are talking about this incident in "The Hobbit" -- not the distant past. This excuse is also made even less legit by the fact that Thorin's ancestors had nothing to do with that incident anyway and it does Thranduil a disservice.

I think it cheapens Thranduil's character to think he would be so ruled by his emotions for something that happen in the distant past. He's a good King and surely is not so petty, he's far better then that! He may greatly dislike-- maybe even hate Dwarves for what happened in the past. But if his Kingdom has lasted as long as it has without the help of a Ring of Power or natural defenses and holding back the darkness of the Necromancer in the south. I think it's pretty clear that he would not be so easily lead by his prejudices/emotions. If that was the case he would not have made sure that the Dwarves (after he had them locked up) were given food and water. Elves are not cruel by nature. Besides the whole thing about Doriath and Thingol only opens up a whole 'other can-of-worms with the cursed Silmarils and the thing with the Noldor, the Kinslaying, ect.

I'm just tired of the blame game and the way people twist this part of "The Hobbit" so they can try and throw the blame either way and absolve their favorite characters/race of all wrong doing. The fact is in life and throughout history, unwanted events come about where both parties are at fault for what took place.

I always just shake my head at this part in "The Hobbit". Yes, Thorin and the others were stubborn and if I had been Thranduil, I too would have probably thrown their Dwarven-butts in a dungeon as well. But I also think Thranduil and the other Elves way overreacted. Imagine how different things would have been and how much trouble would have been avoided if when Bilbo was first shoved out, the Elves had simply stopped for a second and demanded what he wanted? Instead of immediately kicking over the fire and running away. Things could have been hurriedly explained and maybe things would have been totally different.

At the same time I can also look at it from the Dwarves standpoint and understand why they acted the way they did as well. Yes there is the Dragon's treasure, but their quest is for the Mountain itself, their rightful home. And though I would not have said what Thorin said, I freely admit I probably would have been a lot like Balin when he and the others are brought before Thranduil. Especially if I had just been through what they had. shudders I don't have a spider-phobia, but being eaten alive by spiders is a definite nightmare!

My own personal theory of what is really to blame between Thorin and Thranduil is simple. Male ego, their both pig-headed males, their both royalty and they are both leaders with their own people to think of. They both refused to back down and had a 'pissing contest' and Thorin lost. Then poor Thranduil ended up looking like a big jerk and Thorin a stubborn fool and had to cool his hot-head in a cell until the Dwarves eventually escaped. In the end, I blame no one and I still adore both Elves and Dwarves!

I believe it all comes down to blame, I, like many others, staunchly defend King Thranduil from unfair blame or character-assassination. He's not a greedy monster or an alcoholic child abuser or a bigoted Dictator. He is a good strong King, that can be both fierce and compassionate, loving and hard. Yet when many Thranduil defenders turn around and point blame solely on the Dwarves, they have become no better then those that unfairly pointed blame at Thranduil in the first place! By doing so they have done poor King Thranduil another great disservice.

_All rights and references is to J.R.R. Tolkien and his books._


End file.
